Two decades later, Wooster High grad Lane Spina still cherishes his Olympic experience

Three decades before David Wise roamed the halls of Wooster High School, there was another up-and-coming freestyle skier at the school on Plumb Lane who had Olympic-sized dreams.

His name was Lane Spina, a spunky teenager who grew up idolizing Reno residents Bob Howard and Franz Weber, who both left imprints on the skiing world. Spina would one day do the same, winning a silver in the 1988 games in Calgary before adding a bronze in 1992 in Albertville.

When Wise makes his Olympic debut later this month to chase his gold-medal dream in the ski halfpipe, Spina will watch from his home in Las Vegas. One Wooster Colt rooting on another. When the Winter Games arrive every four years, Spina gets a chance to reminisce about his Olympic experience two decades ago.

“I keep telling myself, ‘It’s been 20 years since I competed and it’s going to become old hat,’” Spina said. “But every time the Olympics come up, it just comes back. All those old feelings come back.”

Wooster High graduate Lane Spina displays the silver medal he won in the 1988 Olympic Games. (Photo provided by Lane Spina)

Spina’s fondest memory of his two Olympics remain the opening ceremonies. He remembers walking into a packed arena full of world-class athletes “justly completely in awe of the atmosphere; it’s just amazing and overwhelming.” Wise will walk for Team USA in Friday night's opening ceremonies in Sochi.

Spina’s path to the Olympics was much the same as Wise’s journey.

Both were born and raised in Reno, two of the few Olympians who can say that. Most of the Winter Olympians from our area claim Truckee, Tahoe or Squaw Valley as their home, but not these two.

Both were founding fathers of sorts for their sports. Wise is the gold-medal favorite in the ski halfpipe, which debuts in the Olympics this year. Spina won his medals, both in the ballet event, when freestyle skiing was a demonstration sport. Moguls and aerials became official events shorty after Spina retired.

During Spina’s 10-year career, from 1983-93, he was a five-time national champion, won four medals in the world championships, including one gold, and won 14 World Cup events. But nothing compared to his two Olympic experiences, memories Spina will cherish forever.

“There are so many more nerves in the Olympics,” Spina said. “You have to leverage them. You have to leverage the fact you have nerves. The tricky thing about nerves is they can get the best of you and take your energy away. I tried to make sure those nerves didn’t wear me down before I actually competed.”

Spina’s best advice for a first-time Olympian like Wise is to make sure you have a minute-by-minute schedule so you don’t let the nerves eat you up during idle time. He’s seen that happen to some competitors. It’s all about peaking for the exact moment you drop in for your run, Spina said.

Those who harness the nerves and turn them into positive energy win medals. Winning a medal is a life-changing experience.

“I love watching all the events and thinking about how people’s lives are about to change,” said Spina, who also was a torchbearer prior to the 1996 Summer Games in Atlanta. “Mine certainly did.”

Spina said being able to put “Olympic medalist” on his résumé has helped him secure his last three jobs.

After retiring, Spina earned an engineering degree at UNLV – he started school at UNR but found it difficult to focus with “all that great snow up in Tahoe.” He later received his MBA at UNLV and is now a senior product manager designing and manufacturing slot machines for WMS Gaming in Las Vegas.

After six knee surgeries, including two ACL reconstructions, Spina still skis. But some of his favorite recent memories stem from talking to children about his Olympic experience. Every four years, he’s asked to talk at schools about his time competing at the Winter Games. That’s when he breaks his medals out of the safety deposit box for some show and tell.

“Nothing’s better than putting a medal around a kid’s neck and letting them get a picture,” he said.

Now 51 years old, Spina said he’ll watch Wise compete later this month. He’s seen Wise, a three-time X Games gold medalist, ski before and believes he could have an advantage because the snow in the Krasnaya Polyana hills is powdery much like the snow in Tahoe because of the proximity to water.

As Wise attempts to become the first Reno native to win an Olympic gold, Spina will be in his corner.

“I think he has a great chance to win a medal,” Spina said. “I know he has some stiff competition, but it’s that one magic moment where you have to harness everything and have that magical run. If he can make that magic happen, I think we’re going to see him get on the podium.”

Editor's note: Here's a sidebar that will run with this story in Friday's newspaper.

In addition to two-time Olympic medalist Lane Spina, that class also featured Greg LeMond, who would go on to win three Tour de France titles while becoming one of the best cyclists in the sport’s history.

In an odd twist, LeMond actually started as a skier and Spina as a cyclist.

“I was actually training to get into bicycling and Greg was training to get into skiing,” Spina said. “Skiers bicycle in the summer to stay in shape and bicyclers ski in the winter to strengthen their legs. We kind of cross-pollinated and he started winning bike races and I started winning ski races and we just switched.”

By the time Spina and LeMond met in high school, both had already switched sports. LeMond won the junior cycling worlds as a high school freshman and Spina began winning big events as a junior.

Wooster High has produced several great athletes, including Spina, LeMond, LGPA Hall of Famer Patty Sheehan, nine-year NFL vet Dave Wyman, All-American softball player Brianne McGowan and freestyle skier David Wise, who is aiming this month to become the first Reno native to win an Olympic gold.

Spina always dreamed about being an Olympian, but even he was surprised he accomplished the feat.

“Candidly, yes, I am surprised,” Spina said. “But once I got into World Cups, I saw it was possible. That’s the one great thing about Reno-Tahoe. You see these world champions coming through and you rub shoulders with them and you start believing it.”

Columnist Chris Murray provides insight on Northern Nevada sports. Contact him at cmurray@rgj.com or follow him on Twitter @MurrayRGJ.